Cigarette package



' N0v.21,1939. a WOGLOM 2,180,753

CIGARETTE PACKAGE YFiled Jan. 28, 1938 f i lnve'nfor. l

AlberT @Woglom Patented Nov. 21, 1.939

UNITED .STATES vPATlezNT* OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to cigarette packages and particularly to that 'type of cigarette package which is equipped with an opening member in the form of a string or cord bywhioh the front of the wrapper of the package vmay be cut or torn along a median line from the top to the bottom thereby to divide the package into half portions which are hingedly connected by the unsevered back of the wrapper.

An object of the invention is `to provide an opening device of this character which can be incorporated in the type of cigarette package which is now universally used without changing 4 either the appearance of the package or the size thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide improvements in cigarette packages by which the package may be opened as above described without producing any loose or free edges of the wrapper which are apt'to interfere with the sub sequent closing of the package.

Further objects of the invention are to improve generally cigarette packages in the particulars hereinafter set forth and then pointed out in the claims.

' In the drawing; n Y

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cigarette package embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the bundle oiV cigarettes as wrapped or enclosed in the inner two-ply wrapper; e 'Y Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 shows the Vpackage in its opened condition.

'Ihe'commercial cigarette package nowcommonly used is lone in which the 'bundle of cigarettes is wrapped in a two-ply linside wrapper comprising an inner ply of paper and an outer ply of tinfo'il or'the like, and in which the cigarettes thus wrapped are enclosed in an outside wrapper in the form'of a pouch member which is open at one end and which carries on its exterior the trade name for the cigarette and other printed matter, said pouch member in turn being wrapped in a transparent exterior cover of Cellophane or the like.- The usual revenue stamp is placed over the open end of the pouch member with its ends adhesively united tothe front and back faces of the pouch member, said stamp serving to hold in closed relation the overlapping flaps of the two-ply inside wrapper member 'at the top end of the package.

It is this type of cigarette package in'which I have embodied my present invention and in the drawing the package in its entirety is indicated (ci. 229-51) I at I. The cigarettes! are wrapped in a two-ply inside wrapper which comprises an inner ply 3 of paper 'and an outer ply 4 of tinfoil or the like. In wrapping the cigarettes in this two-ply wrapper they ends of the package are closed by the 8 overlapping folds 5, 6 of the two-ply wrapper.

The pouch member of the wrapping is indicated at 'I and this is made of paper as usual and is closed at the bottom of the foil-wrapped package, the top of said foil-wrapped package being 10 exposed at the open ,end 30 of'the pouch member 1. 8 indicates the yusual revenue stamp which is placed across the top'of the package with its Vends 9 and I0 adhesively united to the front and back sides I I and I2 of the pouch meml5 ber 1, said stamp overlying the overlapping flaps 5 and E and holding them in their closed relation. The outside Cellophane wrapper is shown at I3 and this is applied to the package in the usual way, said wrapper enclosing and overlying both 20' the pouch member 'I and the revenue stamp 8, and being formed with the usual overlapping ilaps 28, 29. y

In embodying rmy invention in a cigarette package having the above features I employ a pack- 25 age-opening string or cord I4 which is incorporated into the package in such away thatby applying a pulling force to an exposed end of said cord the pouch member and Cellophanelwrapper will be cut or severed across the bottom of they 30 packageand up'the front thereof and the revenue stamp and the Cellophane wrapper will be cut or severed across the top of the package. The inner two-ply wrapper is provided with a line of weakness along which it may be readily ruptured 35 and which coincides or registers with the cut that is made in the pouch member and Cellophane wrapperby the opening string, so that when lthe outer wrappers andV theA revenue stamp have been thus severed the inner two-ply wrapper can be 40 readily ruptured along its line of weakness by grasping the two edges of the package in the two hands and applying a slight breaking pressure thereto.

One end I5 of the cord Il is anchored to the 45 package between the end I0 of the revenue stamp and the back face I2 of the pouch member 1, and. the cord extends ,across the top of the package between the revenue stamp and the overlapping ilapsl 5 and 6 as shown at. I6, and then extends 50 along the front of the package from the top to the bottom between the front portion II of the pouch and the layer of foil as shown at I'l, and then lextends across the bottom of the package v between the bottom I8 of the pouch member 1 55 Wrapper.

and the overlapping bottom flaps of the two-ply 'Ihe cord then passes through the pouch member 'I and Cellophane ply I3 at the lower`ieapcorner of the package as shown at I9, there being it-short =length 2|) of cord projecting beyond the package .which is of sufcient length so that it can be readily grasped. The two-ply inner wrapper comprising the paper ply 3 and foil ply 4 is provided with a line of weakness which registers with the cord I4 and along which said plies can bevery easily ruptured. This line of weakness can be conveniently made by providing the two plies 3 and 4 with relatively long slits 2I at the top, bottom and front. said slits being separated by short unslit lengths 22. In

making the slits 2| I' propose to carry the slits.

around the corners at the top and bottom and t locate the unslit portions 22 in the front and at the top and bottom rather than at the corners, and I propose further to reduce the unslit p0rtions 22 to a minimum so that a relatively small force will be required to rupture them and thus open the inner ply along the line of weakness.

In Aorder to open a cigarette package having these improvements the operator holds the package in one hand and grasps the free end 20 of the string or cord with the other, and a pull on the string will rst tear the bottom of the pouch member 1 and the overlying Cellophane ply and will then sever the front II of the pouch and the overlying'Cellophane layer from the bottom to the top, and will finally tear or sever the revenue stamp and the outside Cellophane ply I3 across the top of the package. When the Outer wrappers have thus been cut along the top and bottom and the front the string can be torn loose `or freed from the package by giving it a quick jerk.

If, now, the operator grasps two sides of the package in his two hands and applies a slight bending force thereto he will readily rupture the short portions 22 of the two-ply wrapper between the slits 2| thereby completing the opening of the package by dividing it into two half portions 32, 33 which-are hinged together along the median line of the back by the unbroken plies of the wrapper as shown in Fig. 4. v

One advantage of a cigarette package which is constructed to be opened in this way is that when the package is opened the cigarettes at the center of the package are exposed throughout their entire length and any exposed cigarette can be removed from the package by grasping it midway of its length as distinguished from grasping it at its end as has to be done when the package is opened at the end. Another advantage of this manner of opening the package is that the opened package will naturally assume a closed condition when it is laidl on a desk or otherA support or is being carried in a handbag, thus` obviating the inevitable loss of tobacco from the cigarettes which occurs when a package which has been opened at the end is being carried.

In order to Vinsure that the opened package Will not be prevented from closing ti htly by loose edges of one or more of the edges of the inside wrapper,I propose to so wrap the bundle of cigarettes in the two-ply inside wrapper 3 or v4 that the overlapping edges 23, 24 of the two plies 3 and 4 of said wrapper are located at some point other than at either the median line of the front 0f the package where the wrapper plies are severed, or the median line of the back of the package which forms the hinge connection between the two half portions 32, 33, of the package. In the illustrated embodiment of the inventiorr the two-ply inner wrapper is Wrapped about the cigarettes in such a way that these overlapping edges 23, 24 are located along one of the narrow sides 25 of the package. With these overlapping edges in this position there will be no projecting edges of the two-ply inner Wrapper either at the front of the package where the outer plies are torn or at the back of the package which forms the hinge connection between the two half portions of the package, and, therefore, after the package has been once opened the two half portions will be closed tightly together when the package is laid down or when it is being carried. Except for the projecting end 20 of the tearing string the appearance of my improved cigarette package diers in no way from that of an ordinary cigarette package. Furthermore the construction of the package is such that it can be opened at the end as is now commonly done instead of by means of the tearing string if the user so prefers.

The opening of the package by the tearing string I4 destroys the revenue stamp 8v by tearing it in two, and after the package has been opened thefolded flaps 5 and 6 of the two ply inside wrapper are still retained in their folded condition by the two parts of the revenue stamp, and the two parts of the flaps 28, 29 of the outer Cellophane wrapper still retain their folded or closed condition even after the package has been opened. In my improved cigarette package, the pouch wrapper 'I is not provided with any line ofk weakness and, therefore, the front face thereof will have a uniform strength from one side edge to the other. When a pulling strain is applied to the tearing string I4, it makes a clean cut in the Cellophane wrapper I3 ,and the pouch wrapper?, and since the inner two-ply wrapper is provided with a line of weakness 2l, when the package is opened by breaking the two-ply wrapper along this line of weakness, the resultant edges of the two halves of the opened package will be clean-cut edges, free from any projecting aps which are formed by projecting edges of one or more of the wrapper elements. As a result, when the package is closed again after once being opened, there is nothing to prevent the clean-cut edges of the two halves from being brought into abutting relation.

I claim:

1. A cigarette package comprising an inner two-ply wrapper enclosing the cigarettes, a pouch wrapper member open at the top and in which the wrapped cigarettes are received, said pouch wrapperA having its front side of uniform strength from one side edge to the other, a revenue stamp having its ends secured to the front and back of the pouch wrapper and extending across the open end thereof and secured to the exposed end of the wrapped package, an outer Cellophane wrapper enclosing the entire package, a tearing string having one end located between the revenue stamp and the outer face of the pouch wrapper at its back and adhesively united to both the stamp and said outer face, said string extending across the top of the package between said stamp and the twoply wrapper, and thence extending from the top to the bottom of the package and across the bottom thereof between the pouch member and the two-ply wrapper, the end of the string projecting through the pouch member and Cellophane wrapper at the lower rear corner of the ,y age, an outer Cellophane wrapper enclosing the *entire package, a tearing string having one end package, said two-ply wrapper being formed with a line of weakness along which it is easily ruptured and which extends'across the topand bottom of the package and from the top to the bot-l tom at the front, said line of Weakness registering with the tearing string, whereby when a pulling force is applied to the free end of the string, the Cellophane wrapper and the pouch wrapper will be torn across the bottom, up the front and across the top of the package, which package may then be opened by breaking the two-ply wrapper along said line of weakness, thereby providing the two hingedly connected halves of the package with clean-cut edges which have an abutting relation when the opened package is closed again and which are free from projecting flaps that might prevent the edges from closing together in such abutting relation.

2. A cigarette package presenting relatively wide front and rear sides and relatively narrowl edge sides and comprising a bundle ofcigarettes, a two-ply wrapper enclosing the cigarettes and having the overlapping edges thereof situated along one of the relatively narrow sides of the package, a pouch Wrapper member open at the Y top and in which the wrapped cigarettes are received, said wrapper having its front side of uniform strength from one side edge to the other, a revenue stamp having its `ends secured` to the front and back of the pouch wrapper and' located between the revenue stamp and the outer face' of the pouch wrapper at its back and adhesively united to th the stamp and said outer face, said string ebwflending across the top of the package between said stamp and the ltwo-ply wrapper, and thence extending from the top to the bottom of the package and across the bottom thereof between the pouch member and the two-ply wrapper, the end of they string projecting through the/pouch member and Cellophane wrapper at the lower rear corner of the package, said two-ply Wrapper being formed with an easily rupturable line of'weakness extending across the top and bottom of the package and from the top to the bottom of the front, saidv line of weakness registering with the tearing string, whereby when' a pulling force is applied to the free end' of the string, the Cellophane wrapper and the pouch wrapper willv be torn across the bottom, up the front and across the top of the package, which package may then vbe opened by breaking the two-ply wrapper along said line of weakness, thereby providing the two hingedly-connected halves of the package with clean-cut edges which have an abutting relation when the opened package is closed again and which are free from projecting flaps that might prevent the edges from closing together in such abutting relation.

' ALBERT G. WOGLOM.- 

